Seat Belts & Car Seats

Prior to 1994, South Dakota had one of the lowest safety belt usage rates in the United States, with only 26% of front seat passengers choosing to buckle up. Since the passage of the safety belt law, seat belt usage has been steadily increasing.

While things have definitely improved, we still have much work to do. South Dakota is far behind the national seat belt usage rate of 88%, with rates being as high as 91% in other states with primary seat belt laws.

The South Dakota Office of Highway Safety works to educate the public about the life-saving benefits of seat belts, along with working beside communities, organizations and other programs on seat belt initiatives.

Seat Belt Campaigns

The 2017 “Make It Click” campaign is designed to make buckling up a habit, reminding people with billboards, bus wraps, radio, crosswalk graphics, seat belt graphics on sliding doors and other places they’re behind the wheel.

Occupant Protection FAQs

Every operator and front seat passenger of a passenger vehicle operated on a public highway in this state shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened safety seat belt system, required to be installed in the passenger vehicle when manufactured pursuant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 208 (49 C.F.R. 571.208) in effect January 1, 1989, at all times when the vehicle is in forward motion. The driver of the passenger vehicle shall secure or cause to be secured a properly adjusted and fastened safety seat belt system on any passenger in the front seat who is at least five years of age but younger than eighteen years of age.

A passenger vehicle is any self-propelled vehicle intended primarily for use and operation on the public highways including passenger cars, station wagons, vans, taxicabs, emergency vehicles, motor homes, trucks, and pickups. The term does not include motorcycles, motor scooters, motor bicycles, motorized bicycles, passenger buses, and school buses. Farm tractors or implements of husbandry designed primarily or exclusively for farm operations are also not considered passenger vehicles.

The fine is only $25, but the consequences of not wearing a safety belt could be even greater. If you are involved in a traffic crash while not wearing a safety belt, your odds of being injured or killed increase dramatically.

Absolutely not. Besides being against the law, this is very dangerous. The safety belt law requires the safety belt system to be properly fastened and adjusted. Failure to use safety belts the way they are designed reduces their effectiveness, and could result in serious injury or death.